Rylee's 4th Birthday

That's right, Rylee is 4 years old today. This day could not come fast enough for Rylee, because she has been talking about turning 4 since the day after she turned 3 last year. She woke up bright and early, just like every day, and wanted to open her presents right away. We waited for Nolan to wake up a few minutes later, and then headed downstairs. She had lots of presents to open today, and she loved them all. She started with her present from Nolan, the Barbie Doll from Toy Story 3. Then she opened her present from Granna and Double G, and new baby doll and a diaper bag for her babies. Then onto her present from Grandma and Papa Rick, a new matching game and her favorite new book, Underwear. Then she opened her presents from us. We got her lots of little things this year instead of one big present. She got a new night gown, some new flip flops, new underwear, new soccer clothes, some puzzles, and a new size 3 soccer ball. She was SO excited about everything she got, and all she did all morning was play with her toys. Her baby doll and diaper bag were a huge hit, and she carried them around all morning. After playing around the house in the morning, we actually had to go to the school district for speech therapy testing.
The testing took about an hour and then it took about 30 minutes for the tester to score the test and then explain it to us. We are excited that she did test into the speech therapy program, because we have been worried about her speech so this is a little stress reliever. One thing the examiner did mention was that Rylee speaks very nasally, and it can be cause by a hole in her soft pallet. So, we get to go to our ENT and have the evaluated this week and see if there is a problem, if not the therapist said they will work on that and fix it too.
After the testing we came home to get Nolan and run a few errands, but when we got home there was one more present on our front porch from Uncle Gary and Aunt Kari. They got her some card games, Slap Jack and Go Fish, because they taught Rye how to play them while we were int Texas. We then went and ran our errands after Rylee talked to Uncle Gary and Aunt Kari. We then played outside with some friends until Daddy got home from work, then it was time for cake and bed!
She had a terrific day and we are having her birthday party at the water park on Saturday. (She has had the location of her party planned since last year too.)

A little bit about Rylee at 4:
- We are currently learning more and more about her hearing loss and what we can do about it. She still has a 30% loss in each ear after putting her tubes in, so we are waiting to do more tests to see what the next step is.
- She loves to play outside and be outside.
- The other night she rode her bike all the way around the block for the first time.
- She is a terrific big sister 90% of the time. (we all fight with siblings sometimes)
- She loves to play soccer and wear her soccer clothes around.
- She thinks "underwear" is the most hilarious word in the English language
- Playing babies is her favorite thing to do around the house.
- She thinks Mickey Mouse Clubhouse is the best show on Television
- She loves all things Tinkerbell
- She loves flip flops and sunglasses
- When playing outside she is the most hesitant kid to get dirty, but within an a little bit she is as filthy as all the other kids.
- She can climb up any slide and thinks it is "cool"
- She loves the Splash Pad and Swimming
- She can still spin in circles for longer than anyone I have ever seen without falling over
- She is working on writing her name without help and can do letters R, l and e, just needs to get y.
- When she sleeps she still sleeps with her blankie, baby, bear and sucks her thumb.

We are excited for the next few months as we continue to help Rylee with her hearing and speech needs. We love our little girl and we cannot imagine or remember life without her.

Her Presents All Wrapped

Her present from Nolan

Her baby doll from Double G and Granna

Some Minnie Mouse undies

New Flip Flops

Her Uncle Gary and Aunt Kari present

Soccer Camping

A week and a half ago Rylee got to go to soccer camp, and I cannot even begin to explain how excited she was. We told her she was going to soccer camp, and she walked around the entire day before saying she was going soccer "camping". She had a grin from ear to ear all morning before camp and for the first bit of the camp. She was a little young for the camp, but my club's director said she could come for the day. She did a great job for the first hour and a half, but then I got a phone call saying she was pooped! When I picked her up she told me I did not send enough water, that she had fun, and that soccer was hard. That afternoon she took a four hour nap, I think it wore her out!

18 Months Old

18 Months Old

15 Months Old

1 Year Old

9 Months Old

6 Months Old

3 1/2 Months Old

1 Month Old

All I can say, is the top picture is "classic" Nolan. He always has his little "thinking/mischievous" tongue out with a cute smile like he is up to something. He likes to play with his shirt, and he is about to take off running a millisecond after the picture is taken. Can you believe he is more of a toddler than a baby? It seems like he was just born. Here is a little bit about Nolan at 18 months:
This little boy is non-stop all day and very full of energy. He loves to climb, jump, fall, run, kick, and he even knows how to pester his big sister already. One of his current favorite things to do is climb up on the couch, fall off on his head, turn over, laugh about it and then do it all over again. He loves to play paddy cake and to do all of the actions with you; however, he prefers that you actually throw him to the couch when you throw the cake in the oven, it is more fun to him. Nolan is obsessed with "shooting hoops!" We got him a basketball hoop a few weeks ago and he can sit there and shoot baskets all day long, and Rylee is his #1 fan. He is a climber, and can figure out how to climb anything. He has mastered all of the climbing things at the playground, which is quite impressive but scary because he is not big enough to be climbing to the top of those things yet. But don't tell him he is not, he will get mad at you. While he is only 18 months old he wants and thinks he can do everything Rylee can do, which is cute but frustrating at the same time for me. If she has a real cup he wants a real cup. He refuses anything but one, and that is just an example of one of many things that we deal with. (But it is not that big of a deal.) He loves to color/scribble! About a month ago he found a baseball in his closet and decided that he should take it to bed with him every night, so he does, and has ever since. Also, he definitely knows what he wants because sometimes he shakes his head 'no' so hard I think he is going to hurt himself!
It has been great to have our "sweet boy" back the past 6 weeks since he got his tubes in, he was a little grouchy prior, so he is back to himself now. Since the tubes he has really started trying to talk much more, and Rylee loves trying to help him learn new words. His current vocabulary is:
Rye-Rye
Dada
Mama
Papa
Tay-Tay
Ta-da! (when he does something impressive)
Uh-oh
Yeah

Shoe

Hi
Up
Uh-uh
He can sign:
Eat
Please
Thank you
More
(The four words that matter the most when he eats!)
We love our boy and are so grateful he is a part of our family!

18 Month and 4 Year Old Pictures

First of all it is weird to think either of these kiddo's are as old as they are already, really she is 4 already, it is still hard for me to grasp. Yesterday we went and got the kids hair cut to look nice for pictures, and then headed straight to the studio before anything could get messed up! I was so surprised at how amazing they both did. Rylee was a dream and kept asking to take more picture please. Nolan was well behaved, just sometimes he was a little to fast to escape from the position the photographer would put him in, but luckily we got a few cute ones before he ran away. Enjoy!

"Hey, It's My Birthday"

Rylee is SO excited that her birthday is coming up, and we talk about it multiple times a day. The other day when she when to soccer camp she asked me what I was doing and I told her I was running errands. She said to me, "You are going to by my birthday present, huh? What is it??" Silly little girl. Well this evening we were out to dinner with a friend and our waitress came over and Rylee very excitedly told her, "Hey, it's my birthday!" Little did Rylee know our waitress would bring the entire staff over, plus the saddle for her to ride, and wish her a happy birthday! She was a little nervous, but gave me a quick smile while sitting on the saddle, and then she hurried off to eat her birthday ice cream!

Nolan, Where is your shoe??

Grandma and Papa were in town really quick this weekend, and on Monday we went out to dinner before they left for the airport. On our way to dinner we were stuck in stop and go traffic on the and Rylee asked to have the windows down, I didn't think anything of it and rolled down hers and Nolan's windows. So, jump forward about 30 minutes when we got to dinner, and Nolan only had one croc. My mom and I searched the car high and low and could not find his shoe. We were hoping it fell off before he got in the car, but it was not at home either, so we assume he threw it out the car window, little booger. Since we could not find Nolan's shoe he got to ride on Papa's shoulders in to dinner. When dinner was over Rylee wanted a treat, so we ordered a piece of delicious cake and she loved it.

Nolan going for a ride with no shoes.

Rylee and our yummy dessert

Brownsville Children's Museum

After we ventured to the zoo, we thought the indoor, air conditioned Children's Museum sounded like a lot smarter idea. We all had a blast. The Museum was so fun, clean, and just big enough that the kids could run around but not so big that they could venture where we could not see them. The kids had the most fun playing restaurant and doctor. We had a blast watching them, it was a really fun afternoon.

Double G's Golf Cart

While we were at Double G's every now and then I would see Nolan wonder to the front door, push it open, and just climb in the golf cart. He loved going on golf cart rides and so did Rylee. Rylee like to go on rides because she could steer, and I think Nolan liked to because he just loves to be outside. We would take rides to the pool, to drop of the garbage, to get the mail, and to find the baby ducks. Nolan also liked it, I believe, because he could climb right on in and it made him feel so big!

Rylee's Tube Surgery

Yesterday Rylee got to go on a special pre-op tour of the hospital. She was really nervous about her surgery, but this tour and education session really helped her feel more calm and relaxed. The child psychologist that worked with the group yesterday gave each child a hospital buddy that they got to draw a face on and take home with them. They used the hospital buddies during the class to show where blood pressure cuffs go, took their temperatures, and even put them to sleep with anesthesia. After an education class on what was going to happen the next day during surgery, we all went on a tour of the same day surgery center. Rylee was the so great during the class. Most of the other kids were shy and nervous, and I thought Rye would be to, but she was the first to volunteer to do anything and to help out. I am so grateful for that class because it made this morning go much smoother.

This morning we had to be at the hospital at 7:45 and she did an awesome job. We got there, checked in and went straight to our room to get ready. She changed into her hospital pajamas and then the child psychologist brought in all kinds of presents. She had a bucket of toys for Rye to play with, bubbles, and a beautiful tutu and wand for Rylee to take home with her. After getting her blood pressure taken and I answered all the questions, they were ready to wheel her back. I was nervous she might cry, but she just took her new tinkerbell wand and waved bye to me with a big smile on her face. The recovery nurse said when she woke up she looked around, grabbed her magna doodle she had taken back with her and started coloring. When they brought her back to me she cried a bit, but other than that she was amazing all day!

We are excited to watch her progression the next few months. She has another hearing test next week at her follow up appointment, and we will see if her hearing has improved with the tubes.

Giving her hospital buddy anesthesia

Rylee and her Hospital buddy

Wearing her nurses "hat" and getting her blood pressure taken

Changed and waiting for surgery

"Great" Uncle Gary

Uncle Gary is the kids Great Uncle and he truly is the greatest uncle. Both of our kids love and adore him. We were lucky enough to get to spend the whole week in Brownsville with Uncle Gary too. He and Rylee of course picked up right where they left off at Christmas time, but this time Nolan too enjoyed every minute he spent with Uncle Gary. Rylee and Uncle Gary played in the pool together, cooked pancakes, played games, read books, and took lots of rides in Double G's golf cart together. Nolan participated in a lot of those things but he and Uncle Gary played a lot of basketball together with the little hoop. Uncle Gary would cheer for Nolan and get the ball for him to shoot. Uncle Gary also taught Nolan how to jump off the stairs outside, and luckily Nolan was smart enough to wait for Uncle Gary to be ready before sprinting off the stairs so we didn't end up with any "ouchies."
I was lucky enough that Uncle Gary was on the first part of our trip home with us, so we had help in the airport; however, Nolan did not take it too well when Uncle Gary got off the airplane and we stayed on. At first we were worried about how Rylee would do with Uncle Gary leaving, but she did great and in reality it was Nolan who lost it. I told Nolan to wave bye to Uncle Gary and he looked at me, climbed over me, clung to Uncle Gary and started crying, it was so sweet and sad. I think Uncle Gary had to pry Nolan's fingers out of his arm to set him in my lap, but luckily he calmed down after a few minutes. I know both kids are looking forward to the next time we see Uncle Gary.

Rylee and Uncle Gary

Reading Stories

Making Pancakes

Nolan came to help make pancakes

Nolan getting Uncle Gary's hat

Eating their pancakes

Playing Go Fish

The Brownsville Zoo

Aunt Kari and Granna remembered how much fun they used to have at the zoo with Kari's kids, so we thought we would take Nolan and Rylee to the zoo and check things out. We went on Tuesday and the zoo was great, the kids loved seeing the animals, but it was so stinking hot, I should have worn my bathing suit to the zoo! When we first got their Nolan was asleep and Rylee had so much fun running from animal to animal and checking things out, but as soon as Nolan woke up Rylee was ready to switch Nolan spots and take a ride for a few minutes. We saw some fun animals and our favorite was the baby zebra. By the time we got home we were all ready for lunch, naps, and then a much needed trip to the pool.

Granna and Rylee at the front of the zoo

Rylee standing like a flamingo

Nolan sounds asleep

Rylee checking out the tigers

Baby Zebra

Nolan woke up

Checking out the water

This is how we all felt by the time we left

Nolan the Monkey

The Pool

While we were in Brownsville, we made a trip to the pool every single day, even a 9pm trip one night because Rylee had not gone swimming all day. The kids absolutely loved it, and I did not mind either since we were not used to the heat. Rylee loves being in the water and kicking her feet, but she is not too confident in the water and still learning to hold her breath and go under. Nolan on the other hand is fearless. He will just sprint in the pool at full speed, so we always have to have an eye on him. They both loved to jump in the pool to Uncle Gary, no one else, just Uncle Gary; however, Rylee would carefully scoot to the edge and jump while Nolan would just take off into the pool. I think the pool was definitely one of the kids most favorite things about our trip.

Borrowing Nolan's boat to go to the deep end with Uncle Gary

Nolan floating with Aunt Kari

Loving the pool

One of my favorite pictures

Rylee taking a "nap" in the pool

Nolan and Aunt Kari

Holding her breath

Posing for a picture for Mom